2017 superhero-related, 8 episodes. David Haller is schizophrenic, or
so everybody tells him; but maybe that's what having world-shaking
superpowers does for you.
The comics character is a spin-off from the X-Men, but in the
series' favour there are no spandex hijinks here. Also in its favour
is Aubrey Plaza, whose character is killed off in the first episode,
but that doesn't prevent her appearing later on – one of David's
hallucinations? A parasite in his mind? All of the above?
This is a show that's all about everything you know being wrong, so
I'm not even going to try to recapitulate the plot; indeed, for me
that's the weak point, since while there is some development of
understanding there are so many reverses and revelations, particularly
of characters shown to have been playing a role, that as a story it
ends up being surprisingly weak.
Visually, though, it's superb, with visual effects making seamless
transitions between apparent reality and nightmarish dream-worlds, and
sound is also used very effectively. The design sensibility is a
deliberate blend of the 1960s, when most of this stuff is supposed to
have started (which was more plausible when the character was invented
as a young man in the 1980s), and the modern day. Rather than the
usual pernicious nonsense about "multiple personalities" which seems
to have been the approach used in the comics, there's clearly been
some research into real schizophrenia and how its sufferers experience
the world. And while there are dangerous people here, plenty of the
people with mental illnesses are victims more than attackers, much as
they tend to be in reality.
It's certainly well-made, and highly popular, but it doesn't quite
work for me; there's no sense of tension when at any time, out of
nowhere, anything can happen (see for example the closing shot of the
final episode, in which David is suddenly kidnapped and whisked away
by a device we've never even seen before).
It's been renewed for a second series (and indeed a third; I'm a bit
behind on television-watching), and I'll probably give it a try, but
more for the spectacle than for the story.
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